EMORY, Va. — Breanna Yarber scored 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds to lift Emory & Henry University to a 68-50 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball Wednesday evening at the King Center.
Gracyn Hall had 17 points and nine rebounds and Rhyan Harris added eight points and 13 boards for the Wasps (7-20, 5-16 SAC), who outrebounded the Pioneers by a 55-32 margin and scored 19 points off 22 offensive rebounds. Hali Harris also reached double figures for Emory & Henry with 12 points.
Abbi Douglas returned to the lineup for the Pioneers (2-25, 2-19 SAC) after missing three games due to injury and scored a team-high 13 points, with Julia Szwichtenberg adding 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Tusculum shot 32.2 percent (19-for-59) from the field and 1-for-11 on three-pointers, but matched a season low with 13 turnovers.
Yarber, who returned to action last week after missing 12 games, including a last-second 63-62 loss to Tusculum at Pioneer Arena on Jan. 21, shot 8-for-17 from the field and set a career single-game high for rebounds. Hall was 7-for-10 from the field and drilled three three-pointers, but the Wasps were just 6-for-33 from beyond the arc in the game.
Josie Horner had nine points for the Pioneers and Martina Garofalo tallied eight points and four rebounds along with three steals in 39 minutes for Tusculum. The Pioneers were 11-for-18 at the foul line as a team (61.1 percent), with Douglas going 7-for-10 at the stripe.
Emory & Henry led from the opening possession, with the only tie at 5-5 following a three-pointer from Horner with 8:22 left in the first quarter. The Wasps took their largest lead of the first quarter at 14-9 on a layup by Tori West with 3:26 left in the period, and Emory & Henry held a 16-14 lead after one quarter.
The Wasps stretched their lead to seven on three occasions in the second quarter, twice on baskets by Yarber, and carried a 29-23 lead into halftime behind 10 points from Hall. Horner led the Pioneers with seven points in the first half with six from Szwichtenberg.
Tusculum whittled the deficit to 33-29 on a jumper by Garofalo with 6:58 left in the third quarter, and the Pioneers trailed 38-33 after a jumper by Szwichtenberg with 5:25 remaining. Yarber scored nine points in the quarter for the Wasps, helping Emory & Henry to a 44-37 lead after three.
A three-pointer from Julie Matheson on the first possession of the fourth quarter gave Emory & Henry its first double-digit lead at 47-37, but Tusculum would trail by 51-43 after a free throw from Douglas with 6:09 to go. Hall tacked on seven points in the final six minutes, including a three-pointer with under a minute to play that set the final score.
The Pioneers will close out their 2025-26 season on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. against Anderson at Pioneer Arena. The Trojans (11-16, 7-14 SAC) have lost five in a row but are tied with Newberry for the eighth and final spot in the SAC Championship Tournament.
